Proposed HR Program for CompuLearn Essay

CompuLearn is a private sector provider of IT-based teaching and learning programmes in business and management based in the UK, with corporate headquarters in Preston, Lancashire and with trading centers in Mumbai, Nairobia and Dubai. Its current global market is focused in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, with 200 education centers in 30 countries. CompuLearn partners with UK universities which validates its programs so that   students are able to qualify in the University programs leading to academic degrees. Its current manpower complement numbers 50 employees mostly based in the corporate office in Preston, Lancashire doing the following functions: Program Development, Customer Service, HR, Marketing, Finance, Sales, IT, Quality Assurance. CompuLearn has embarked on a mission to be market leader in e-learning delivery of University validated programs and foremost learning company in the world. It is on an expanded growth program and it adopted a new strategy to extend to 500 education centers in 60 countries over a span of 3 years. The role of HR is very critical in this new strategy, which is to attract top IT experts. It could be a relatively easy task if not for the following: 1. There is a high turn over in the IT industry in UK and new employees leave after only one month for a new job that offers better pay. 2. CompuLearn has a limited training system in place. Its strategy is to recruit highly trained staff instead of training them in house. The allocated budget for training is almost used up and was used to train the Sales team. 3. Employees have limited management skills as they are mostly technical staff whose training is not in the soft skills development. 4. The company does not have a Performance Appraisal System in place. 5. The staff at the corporate headquarters do not have a comfortable relationship with the staff of the UK universities largely due to complaints of attitude. 6. The HR Director’s strength is in micro-managing and does not have expertise in long-term management plans for the company employees. The Limitations and Constraints Faced by the Company The HR Department will play a very strategic role in supporting the growth of CompuLearn. Among other things, it needs to address the following limitations and constraints faced by the company, whether internally caused or faced by the industry in general: 1. The high turn over rate in the IT industry in UK 2. The lack of a professional or well-developed training and development program for employees 3. The employees’ limited skills in management, customer service and other soft skills 4. The lack of a well-placed Performance Appraisal System 5. The not-so-friendly attitude of the academic staff of the Universities towards the company employees at the corporate headquarters 6. The limited knowledge and skills of the HR Director in long-term planning for the management of the employees Recommendations The HR strategies recommended are based on the following assumptions: 1. Budget The company is working on a limited budget, which is just around 30% of the  annual budget of 25,000 Euros. 2. Lead Department The HR Department will take the lead in implementing the strategies. The HR Director shall formally appoint the section heads to serve as lead persons in implementing the strategies in their respective sections. The HR Director has the free hand in creating working committees to participate in the entire process from planning to implementation. The process will be participatory and with some amount of consultation from the employees. 3. Timetable The strategies are proposed for implementation on a focused basis within the first year (Year 1 – Month 1 to Month 12). Beginning Year 2 (Month 13) the focus of the activities will be on monitoring, evaluation, and implementation of improvements. 4. HR Management Perspective/Model Available literature identify different HR Management models that attempt to explain the various strategies adopted by different companies. General classifications fall under the â€Å"soft† and â€Å"hard† models, based on the definitions of employees considered as either â€Å"human† or â€Å"resource†. The hard versions consider employees as resource and adopt a rational approach to managing them, aligning their HR strategies with the strategies of the business. The soft version, on the other hand, considers employees as human and adopts strategies to train and develop them (Bratton and Gold, p. 5). The recommendations adopted in this case will be based more on the soft version of human resource management. Focus will be more on training and development as well as in developing commitment from employees. A limited form of the hard version will however allow the HR to link the strategies with the overall corporate strategy of the company. In analyzing the challenge faced by CompuLearn, a simplistic framework was designed around the following questions, based on the limitations/constraints faced by the company and to become the basis for the strategies: 1. On the high turn-over rate in the IT industry How can CompuLearn keep its employees from leaving the company after short- term engagement only? Or how can the company motivate its employees to stay longer? 2. On the lack of a professional training and development program Should the company train in-house or continue to hire experts from outside? 3. On the employees’ limited skills in management, customer service, and other soft skills. How can the employees learn the soft skills and apply them at work? 4. On the lack of a well-placed Performance Appraisal System Is there a need to formulate or adopt a Performance Appraisal System? 5. On the not-so-friendly attitude of the academic staff of the Universities towards the company employees at the corporate headquarters How can there be a more cordial relationship between the two parties? How can the company make the employees appreciate the importance of having good relations with the University staff? Can this be done through training or should the company replace those who transact with the University staff with other company employees, either through job rotation or job enrichment? 7. On the limited knowledge and skills of the HR Director in long-term planning for the management of the employees. Should the HR Director undertake refresher courses in management? Or should the company hire a new HR person who has the skills in long term planning to assist the HR Director? Below is a presentation of the proposed HR strategies and programs, in matrix form,   that can be implemented under the leadership of the HR Director. They are composed of both short term and long term strategies. The short-term strategies are those that can be immediately implemented, within the first six months from the time the recommendations will be adopted. The long term strategies are those that can be adopted over a longer period and on a continuing basis like the periodic reviews of policies and developing a system whereby improvements can take place every so often whenever warranted. It will be observed that most of the strategies will be newly introduced to the company and it can be expected that certain difficulties will be met. This will include among other things, resistance to the changes to be introduced, the difficulty of the HR Department to implement them for lack of the appropriate knowledge and skills, and with some â€Å"difficult† employees. This is all part of the process of the HR accepting the initial resistance  to the changes. The HR should be firm and consistent but at the same time adopting an attitude of openness and willingness to see through the improvements. Education and training are two important components of an empowered workforce. The saying that a company is only as good as its weakest employee is very much applicable here. Each employee is responsible for knowing about his company and performing according to the expectations set at the time of his engagement. However, it is the job of HR to find the employees who have the potential to learn more and continuously give them the opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills.

Feasibility study Essay

1. A. NAME OF PRODUCT As we all know Guimaras is known as the breeder and export of the sweetest mangoes in the world. Some countries have tried to plant and grow mangoes but no one can ever do the same even with the help of latest technology that we have today and so the city of Guimaras can proudly claim the title of having the sweetest mangoes. Therefore the proponents chose Guimaras as its inspiration, thus, come up with a product that wishes to exhibit their specialty – the mangoes. After series of conceptualizing, the proponents come up with the word â€Å"MANGGAMAZING† as its business name. This name is comprised of two words, MANGGA and AMAZING primarily because the business’ concept is focused on mango itself. The first word Mangga is a vernacular term for mangoes which has been commended in the introduction, while the second word, Amazing means great wonder, surprising and remarkable and so the name Manggamazing is the combination of these words that surely suit the product’s quality. All in all, the name â€Å"MANGGAMAZING† simply describes the product and the outstanding work for excellent and satisfaction the proponents wishes to convey. 1.C. DESCRIPTIVE DEFINITION Manggamazing smoothies are drinks made and served for refreshment. These are mainly made with fresh, ripe mangoes which are antioxidants that protect the body against colon, breast, leukemia, and prostate cancers. Mangoes are rich in vitamin C, pectin, and fibers that help to lower serum cholesterol levels. Mangoes help you unclog your pores and add freshness to the face. These are applicable to any skin type. Mangoes help in promoting good eye sight, fights dry eyes and also prevent night blindness because it is rich in vitamin A. Mangoes also contains enzymes for breaking down protein, and the fiber found in it helps digestion and elimination. Manggamazing offers not only smoothies made with mangoes but it is added  with banana, mango and melon, and pineapple. Bananas are terrific heart-healthy food and good source of potassium, dietary fiber, manganese and vitamins B6 & C. Melons on the other hand, help prevent cancer, stroke, and heart disease, also good for digestion, and give boost of energy. Pineapples contain brome lain, an enzyme that may help arthritis pain by reducing inflammation. They are also a good source of vitamin C, which helps strengthen your immune system. The products give a healthy boost and refreshment naturally. Smoothies are also mixed with non-fat milk, 0% fat yogurt, and will use sweeteners instead of sugar.  As a whole the product is a guilt free drink because of all its nutrients and low level of sugar. The proponents are: 1. D. OBJECTIVES Vision Our company â€Å"Manggamazing† bears the vision of providing healthy, fresh mango smoothies with added flavors of other nutritious fruits while maintaining our commitment to uncompromised quality with the heartening purpose to cater to society’s needs and cravings and constant change in life. The business also opted to create guilt-free drinks that will surely rejuvenate your mind and body, hence changing and opening people’s mind on a new side of style to staying healthy and fit. Ultimately, the company’s vision is to be the front-runner in the industry and help social and economic growth. Mission Manggamazing aims to give a high quality, exceptional and reasonably priced products in the beverage industry that provides healthy and nutritious smoothies that will surely satisfy the cravings of every customer. The people behind this product also aim to promote the national fruit of the Philippines – the mangoes to be known worldwide. To the society, the company’s task is making them health conscious in a unique way. Short term objective Manggamazing short term objective is to focus on execution in the  marketplace every day and on needs of our consumers and customers. Have the courage to change course when needed and remain responsive. And after we introduce it and known by everyone, Manggamazing will have a high cost of sales. Improve earnings and yield performance. Long term Objective The Manggamazing long term objective after 3-5 years will invade the malls if the profits are obtained. It will create many job opportunities for the branches that need manpower such as crew, server etc. The product will have a TV commercial and a foundation that will support by manggamazing so that the product will be known and it will be open for franchising. Develop and expand into new market, and they can now produce and manufacture new products. Expand into new overseas markets to tap new sources of growth and to achieve better market diversification. It aims for success and satisfaction of customers.

Management Essay

1) What forces for change are evident at the Oconomo plant? (5) The forces for change that are evident at the Oconomo plant are the callenges dealing with high labor cost. As a result Lamprey is deciding to lower wages from $16 to $1.60 per hour. Also the union and Oconomo are disagreeing with this new change taking place with the wages. 2) Which of the forces in force-field analysis do you think would be more powerful than the other in this situation? Between the two forces I think the Driving Force would be more powerful than the other in this situation. The greatest force that drives the company to expect change is that it’s operating at a high cost and instead of giving returns it’s giving out loses. As a result, the aim of the company is to make changes so that it can appreciate profits in the future. In additional to there being high cost the thing that needs to be understood is that in order for the company to meet its operations it must realize some of the returns from what it has invested. Having invested in the company the managers and shareholders should expect that the company is going to provide sufficient returns which will be shared and at the same time enable the company to stay in the market. There also exist the risks of the competitors who are in the market currently. For the company to make it in the market, it must change its working conditions so that they fit with the current market situation. Another problem is the workers point of refusing to cooperate. The company is planning to reduce the amount of pay it’s going to provide to its workers with a significant drop. This is a great problem which workers are not ready to accept the desired change of the company. Another force for change is that competitors are in the market and of late they have threatened the company from the services and products that they are providing to the society. Quality is one thing that the company should look at so as to retain its market segment else the upcoming companies will outperform the company. 3) What is the primary type of change needed – changing â€Å"things† or changing the â€Å"people and culture†? The primary change that is appropriate at the moment is changing the people and their culture. The reason as to why changing people and culture is of importance to the company is that having changed people all other things will work accordingly. People’s culture is of importance in the way the company operates simply because if the culture or people fit in the objectives of the company then all other things will be in place. People are the main target of any given business set up. This means that in changing anything that is in respect to the company’s operations then the people and their culture is the initial thing that should be taken into consideration. Another thing is that having changed people’s perception competitors will have no say because you would have drove the attentions of the market to your operations. 4) What do you think is the underlying cause of the union leaders’ resistance to change? Union leaders are resistant to change due to a single reason which the company is reluctant to handle. The reason as to the resistance is that Oconomo plant has plans to provide workers with less wages which they feel they cant live within that budget. Looking at some companies which are emerging, union leaders are not ready to accept the change simply because those companies are giving out wages which are high and the quality of services and products that they have is almost outdoing the one Oconomo plant is providing. Jim has a hard time of convincing union leaders on what should be done. What he is supposed to do is to give union leaders the risk behind getting a new job if they lose the one they have. There are so many people in the town who are looking for job. Also, he should convince them to work as the negotiation is being carried out for a better change. There are benefits that workers get from the company and if they resign, such as medical and insurance benefits, then they will no longer get until they get another job.

Risk Assessment Proposal and Report Research Paper

Risk Assessment Proposal and Report - Research Paper Example Amazon, which will derive a comprehensive understanding of the risks associated with the company and the steps to be taken in order to mitigate such risks. The research study would be based on providing solution to the research question of how Amazon can ensure protection of vital information pertaining to the customers and the sellers, which evolve as one of the prime risks or threats for the company. Furthermore, the research study would be aimed at providing an understanding of the key areas where Amazon has been successful as well as such fields that require high level of concentration for availing several significant benefits. The chief purpose of this particular research is to identify as well as assess the threats or the vulnerabilities faced by Amazon while performing different business or operational functions. From a theoretical perspective, threats or vulnerabilities are duly considered to be one of the vital factors affecting business environment, which may hinder the growth and expansion of an organization. Hence, it is in beneficial for the organizations to consider the risks associated with conducting a business and likewise take appropriate steps to mitigate the same. In this regard, risk assessment is referred to as the process, which involves identification of the business risks, evaluation of those risks and formulation of corrective measures to cope with the same (Drissi, Houman & Medromi, 2013). Hence, the research aimed at examining the risks faced by the company that affected its overall performance and also suggesting various ways through which Amazon might respond effectively in resolv ing such risks. The research study on risk Assessment of Amazon would be conducted via establishment and description of a number of steps. Initially, after introduction section, the study would provide the readers with a comprehensive understanding about the perceptions of management of risk and risk assessment. The second step in the research study would

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To what extent is an individual's vote the result of a multiplicity of factors - Coursework Example The political campaigns that are conducted by the different parties during the electioneering period also have their stake in influencing how an individual will cast their vote. It is clear that the voting process must have evolved from when people were voting according to class up to the place where voting is purely based on personal judgment and assessment of the party’s policies and the leader. In doing this, will trace the history of voting in Britain. It is going to cover the alignment era of 1940s to 1970s, giving a keen look at how electioneering activities were ran during that period. The essay will also examine the de-alignment era that began from the 1070s onwards, proceeding the alignment era (Denver, 2007 P. 22). The conclusion of the paper will an analysis of the factors that influence voting in the modern day, and specifically look at some recent elections that were conducted in Britain. During this period, voting in the UK was greatly influenced by such factors as social class, family, local community, gender, age, ethnicity, region and religion (Persson, 2000 P. 54). The era between 1940- 1970 can be referred to one characterized by party identification and class voting. There were mainly two major parties that dominated the party system at that time. These were the Conservative and the Labor Parties. There patterns of voting was relatively stable as there was minimum switching of political allegiance (Weibull, 1987 P. 52 ). The people were not very much inquisitive and they went by the current wave of their fellow mates in the social class. The stability could have been attributed to the image that the voters attached to the party of their choice rather than the policies which it upheld. The affiliates cared really less about the policies. Party identification was mainly obtained from social class, parental political party adherence, and the nature of local commu nity, the region that one

Arsenic in Groundwater in Eastern New England Research Proposal

Arsenic in Groundwater in Eastern New England - Research Proposal Example In eastern New England, the high concentrations of Arsenic occur in groundwater. Several researches have established that underground water contains arsenic due to bedrock geology (Environmental Science and Technology, 2006). A sample of 790 groundwater test samples from bedrocks within Maine and Augusta revealed that 31 of the samples contain arsenic greater than 10 milligrams per litre. High amount of geogenic arsenic within subsurface water in eastern New England has generated a lot of public health concern within US and the entire world. With a population of approximately 103, 000 majority of the inhabitant have private wells that supply drinking water. A large proportion of these wells have not complied with the requirement of Maximum Containment Level (MCL), which is 10 ÃŽ ¼g/L worldwide (De, Belkin & Lima, 2008). This situation increases exposure of the people using water from these wells to arsenic element. In this scenario, anthropogenic activities such as lumbering, use of pesticides and manufacturing contribute immensely to high levels of the element in groundwater (Henke, 2009). The private well owners by not complying with the MCL recommendations contribute to high increase in arsenic in drinking water drawn from the wells. However, drinking water drawn from unconsolidated aquifers contains less concentration of arsenic. Naturally, unconsolidated sedimentary rocks as well as bedrock aquifers contain arsenic. High concentrations of the chemicals are in glacial, alluvial, and volcanic basins occupied by sedimentary aquifers. In most instances, high concentrations of arsenic in groundwater occur due to geologic units in earth. These include Eliot formation, Berwick Formation, Rangeley Formation, and Ayer granodiorite (De, Belkin & Lima, 2008). Consequently, wells lying on metasedimentary bedrocks in New Hampshire and Maine produce water with the highest

Strategic management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

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The Life of a Woman Found Guilty of a Crime under Sharia Law Research Paper

The Life of a Woman Found Guilty of a Crime under Sharia Law - Research Paper Example Islamic nations embracing the Islamic law dictate the conduct of women in the society. The law, primarily, prohibits sexual activity outside of marriage. In most cases, women usually face difficulties in defending themselves against this law. According to the provision of the law, the public has a jurisdiction of monitoring the conduct of women. This condition deprives women of making free choices over what kind of men they should marry. The case of Malaysian woman Siti Zan Binti Kamarudin against Public Prosecutor, held in 1979 for example, found the woman guilty without subjecting the man who impregnated the woman guilty. In essence, while the law intended to protect the society from moral decadence, it failed to handle male counterparts who contributed an equal amount to moral decay. In the sentence remark, the judge of the case indicated, the Siti had the right to sex; however, her parents had to take an active role in getting a man for their daughter. In Nigeria, Amina Lawalâ₠¬â„¢s sentence did not only attract international condemnation but also challenged the liberty law promoted globally. Although Amina was guilty of Zina as proved in the courts, the death sentence through stoning was cruel than the crime she had committed. Ironically, men in the same saga did not have a case to answer. In most cases of women convicted by the law, the evidence adduced in the case by the prosecutor usually show that women had an extra material affair because they have given birth to children.... Although Amina was guilty of Zina as proved in the courts, the death sentence through stoning was cruel than the crime she had committed. Ironically, men in the same saga did not have a case to answer. In most cases of women convicted by the law, the evidence adduced in the case by the prosecutor usually show that women had an extra material affair because they have given birth to children. This attribute makes the law selective. The provision in the law may subject women to sentence such as receiving strokes along side a jail term depending on the gravity of the case. Largely, the sexual desire that women harbor is not under their control but under the desire of men. It is the will of the man to choose when to have sex. In this sense, women act as minors who seek the guidance of a man in the society. The Sheria law prohibits a woman from entering into a relationship with non-Muslims. For instance, the case of Sakina binti Husain v Public prosecutor of Malaysia found Sakina guilt aft er she argued in the court that she had been cohabiting with a non-Muslim (Otto, 2011). Reading the convicting statement, the judge noted that Sakina had walked out of the precepts of the law by engaging in a relationship with a man who did not belong to his faith. Women convicted under Sheria law face public humiliation because the provisions of the law demand that the execution of the sentence has to occur in public domain. Women suffer psychologically under the Sharia law. It is traumatizing to think of the atrocities committed to women without choice. Largely, human values do not apply in countries that administer Sharia law. Women testimony does not fully count as that of a man in

Media Consumption Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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PV Mounting System Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

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Tendonitis and apoptosis Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Newest Aircraft on Air Essay Example for Free

Newest Aircraft on Air Essay The F-35 varieties are designed to replace the older versions of aircrafts because these aircrafts that are used by the Armed Forces are susceptible to errors and risks, which are the common grounds for aircraft accidents. This research paper discusses the new technology behind the making of F-35 Lightning which has three (3) variants: (1) F-35A CTOL, (2) F-35B STOVL, and (3) F-35C CV. F-35 Lightning Design and Combat The F-35 Lightning is designed to take over the U.S. Air Force’s A-10 and F-16, the U. S. Navy’s F/A – 18, U.S. Marine Corps’ AV-8B Harriers and F/A -18, and U.K. Harrier GR.7 and Sea Harriers. The F-35 is also made for unusual air-to-air combat performance, and uses advance stealth to avoid being detected as it employs a powerful sensor in locating, targeting, and destroying multiple enemy fighter aircrafts. With the supersonic speed, F-35 has the most powerful engine among fighter planes and is capable of carrying weapons internally and avoiding aerodynamic drag of external stores to increase its agility reaching 9 g’s. In stealth mode, it can carry internal weapons load which includes two (2) 2,000 pound joint direct attack munitions (JDAMS) and two (2) advanced medium range air-to-air missiles (AMRAAM). The F-35 can be utilized in either close-in or long-range air-to-air combat. Variants F-35A Lightning Overview The F-35A (see Figure 1[i]) fits for the U.S. Air Force for the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) which uses a conventional runway for takeoff and landing. The internal capacity of fuel is around nine (9) tons which sustains an unrefueled range of at least 1,200 miles without external tanks. It also carries a 25 mm GAU-22/A cannon internally. The standard weapons load is two (2) AIM-120C air-to-air missiles and two (2) 2,000-pound GBU-31 JDAM guided weapons. In order to attain all air-to-ground and air-to-air ordnance, the internal weapons bay can be reconfigured. When the stealth is no longer needed in a mission, the F-35A pylons are brought with ordnance that gives the aircraft a weapons payload of at least 18,000 pounds. (Lockheed Martin) Features and Comparisons with Older Models The F-35A is able to exceed the performance of the F-16 due to several reasons: (1) stealth, (2) expanded range on internal fuel capacity, and (3) superior avionics. Also other features and abilities like the survival, effectiveness and support are dramatically improved in this aircraft. In comparison with the F-16, F-35A also includes an interior gun and a refueling container. The maneuver characteristics are the same with the F-16 with comparable instant and sustained â€Å"High-G† performance. On the other hand, unlike the F-16, the aircraft is stealthy and has the capability of first-look, first shot. The information gathered from sensors is put together or sorted out before being placed to the helmet-mounted or head-down displays. The aircraft also has advanced electronically scanned array radar. To add more, it also contains internal laser designator and infrared sensors. The range and payload for F-35A as mentioned above is highly greater than the older aircraft models. Design and Flight Tests The release of F-35A can surely improve the ability of the pilot in assisting in combat campaigns at longer ranges because of the large fuel capacity and the engine design which is single. As mentioned above the F-35A can carry more than 18,000 pounds of internal fuel and also can carry external fuel as well. This addresses the concern of increased combat scope and longer period spent on the base which is the experience on other aircrafts. For the flight tests, the Joint Strike Fighter X-35 demonstrator aircraft set a number of flight standards. The X-35A conventional take off and landing had a recorded 27 flights (highest), 27.4 flight hours (highest), 6 pilot checkouts (most), two cancelled flights (fewest) and a 6 1/3 flights per week(highest) in the first month of aircraft testing. The recording was established from October 2000 until August 2001. The first F-35 demonstrator aircraft left the Air Force’s runway in Plant 42, Palmdale, California on October 24, 2000 and reached Edward Air Force Base, California to begin the flight test program. On November 7, 2000, the F-35A was fueled from a KC-135 tanker for the first time and was able to record its longest flight of 2 hours and 50 minutes. It completed its test flight on November 22 2000 after finishing 27 flights in 30 days and achieving the first JSF supersonic flight the day before. It was brought back to Palmdale to be converted to STOVL F-35B. (Global Security) The U.S. Air Force is set to receive its first F-35 aircraft by 2008; however the initial operational capability (OIC) for the service will be available in 2011. F-35B Lightning Overview The F-35B (see Figure 2[ii]) is designed for the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.K. Royal Air Force and Royal Navy and is regarded as the world’s first short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft which has the ability to operate regularly at supersonic needs. This feature makes F-35B to operate from small ships, roads, and austere bases. It deploys near front-line combat zones which shrinks the distance greatly from the base to the target which also increases sortie rates while removing the need for logistics support. The internal fuel capacity of F-35B is seven (7) tons that provides unrefueled range of 900 miles without the use of external tanks. Its standard weapons load is two (2) AIM-120C air-to-air missiles and two (2) 1,000-pound GBU-32 JDAM guided weapons. It can also load six GBU-38 small-diameter bombs, and also huge choices of air-to-ground missiles, dispensers, and guided weapons. Same as F-35A, the internal weapons bay is reconfigurable for air-to-ground or air-to-air ordnance or a blend of both. If stealth is not required, F-35B external pylons are loaded with ordnance which gives the aircraft a weapons payload of more than 15,000 pounds. It is also recognized as the first STOVL stealth fighter. (Lockheed Martin) Comparison with other models The F-35B is said to replace the old AV-8B Harrier STOVL attack jets because of their support difficulties. According to Charles Davis (2006), the F-35B has a 25mm â€Å"missionized† gun which is put in the belly of the said aircraft and has a combat scope of at least 450NM. This combat radius is twice the specs of other STOVL fighters. The lift fan which is shaft-driven, including the vectoring rear exhaust nozzles provides power and abilities to the aircraft to (1) take-off in little distances, (2) increase speed reaching supersonic speeds in level flight, and (3) land vertically due to the lift-fan system. â€Å"The F-35Bs total vertical lifting thrust is about 39,700 pounds (the aircraft weighs about 30,000 pounds) which is more than 14,000 pounds greater than the engine alone would produce without the lift fan. The F-35B will be the worlds first operational supersonic STOVL aircraft today†. (Davis, 2006) This kind of aircraft that is going to be used by the U.S. Marines and the UK Royal Air Force is unique from the other kinds of aircraft because of its short takeoff/vertical landing capability. As mentioned in the first requirement for achieving this capability, the airplane must have more vertical lift than weight. The first requirement is regarded to have difficulties in achieving it. The airplane must have a smaller weight and have an increased thrust-to-weight ratio. The second requirement is fine controllability in every axis of the airplane at zero airspeed. The transition between up-and-away flight and hover must be carefully taken into consideration. Other critical factor that can affect the aircraft’s overall performance is â€Å"the airplanes hover footprint, which is the propulsion systems impact on the ground surface or carrier deck. The method in which thrust is developed is the key in producing a benign footprint†. (Global Security) Factors that must be considered are noise levels and heat effects on the deck and on the aircraft itself. Aside from the shaft-driven lift fan the aircraft has slightly shorter scope because the space utilized by the fan system for some of the fuel in the Air Force variant. Still, the aircraft has more than twice the range of an AV-8B on internal fuel and can carry a bigger payload. Pointing engine thrust directly down produces a tremendous amount of reflected energy, which results in all kinds of effects that make the life of the structures lessen. Acoustic considerations are material considerations because they affect material choices for the underside of the airplane as well as for structures and payloads attached to the airplane. The aircraft shares all of the electronic gear of the Air Force variant. Cockpit layout is also virtually indistinguishable, with the exception of a thrust-vector lever for the aerial mode. â€Å"The JSF X-35 demonstrator aircraft established a number of flight test standards from October 2000 through August 2001. The X-35B short takeoff vertical landing is the first and only aircraft in history to achieve a short-takeoff, level supersonic dash and vertical landing in a single flight. It is also first aircraft to incorporate and fly a shaft-driven lift-fan propulsion system. For the record, it has tallied 17 vertical takeoffs, 14 short takeoffs, 27 vertical landings, and five supersonic flights†. (Global Security) â€Å"The Department of Defense working groups and conferences started to question the community acceptance strategies for some new weapons systems. In particular, the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) may face a variety of challenges in some possible beddown locations†. (Global Security) The aircraft generates an extraordinary amount of thrust from its single engine, which according to preliminary analyses, contributes to noise and air pollution. Investigations in San Diego, California revealed air quality limitations that may rule out unrestricted operation of the STOVL (Short Takeoff, Vertical Landing) version of the aircraft. And these will be acquired by the USMC. The highest thrust settings for the aircrafts F-119 engine will occur during transition to and from vertical flight. Noise and pollutant emissions, especially of Nitrogen oxides may exceed those encountered in any equivalent engine. On February 2004, there were some setbacks that occurred. As detailed design progressed, the weight estimates from early in the design phase were found to be unrealistic. The program leadership was soon faced with the harsh reality that the short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) variant would need to lose as much as 3,000 pounds to meet performance requirements. This was an unexpected negative development, and according to a few, the said fix will be either impossible or too costly and time-consuming. For the solution, the JSF constituted a re-plan phase in order to assess a number of issues pertaining to the aircraft design. (Davis, 2006) The Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) discovered a way of designing the STOVL F-35 that will meet or exceed its performance requirements. The team not only removed more than 3,000 pounds of unwanted estimated weight, but also improved the structure, improved the load paths and brought increased efficiencies to the overall aircraft. â€Å"The internal bays of the F-35B STOVL variant were redesigned in late 2004 and are now shorter and reduced in width, compared to the F-35A CTOL model†. (Lockheed Martin) â€Å"This was done to address the weight of the F-35B to meet other more important performance goals. As a result, the F-35B is no longer compatible with JSOW and 2,000-lb JDAM weapons. The largest weapon this F-35 variant can carry internally, as mentioned above, is the GBU-32 1,000-lb version of JDAM†. (Lockheed Martin)

Biomedical And Biopsychosocial Health Models Health And Social Care Essay

Biomedical And Biopsychosocial Health Models Health And Social Care Essay The medical model of health is a negative one: that is, that health is essentially the absence of disease. Despite bold attempts by bodies such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) to argue for a definition of health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, most medically related thought remains concerned with disease and illness. -The main point of this model of disease is that it attempts to uncover underlying pathological processes and their particular effects. -The pathologically based and causally specific medical model became increasingly dominant. In the medical model of disease, tuberculosis is defined as a disease of bodily organs following exposure to the tubercle bacillus. The development of the illness involves symptoms such as coughing, haemoptysis (coughing up blood), weight loss and fever. In this model the underlying cause of the illness is the bacillus, and its elimination from the body (through anti-tubercular drugs) is aimed to restore the body to health. -In the case of tuberculosis, the symptoms described above are also found in other diseases, and this problem of linking symptoms to specific underlying mechanisms frustrated medical development. -Today, these are often referred to as forms of complementary medicine herbalism and homeopathy, for example that treat symptoms holistically but do not rest on the idea of underlying, specific pathological disease mechanisms. -The medical model was essentially individualistic in orientation and, unlike earlier approaches, paid less attention to the patients social situation or the wider environment. This narrowing of focus (towards the internal workings of the body, and then to cellular and sub-cellular levels), led to many gains in understanding and treatment, especially after 1941, when penicillin was introduced, and the era of antibiotics began. But it was also accompanied by the development of what Lawrence calls a bounded medical profession, that could pronounce widely on health matters and could act with increasing power and autonomy. Doctors now claimed exclusive jurisdiction (authority) over health and illness, with the warrant of the medical model of disease as their support. This situation meant that modern citizens were increasingly encouraged to see their health as an individual matter, and their health problems as in need of the attention of a doctor. It is this which Foucault (1973) saw as constituting the medical gaze which focused on the individual and on processes going on inside the body its volumes and spaces. Wider influences on health, such as circumstances at work or in the domestic sphere, were of less interest to the modern doctor. This gaze (extended in due course to health-related behaviours) underpinned the development of the modern doctor-patient relationship, in which all authority over health matters was seen to reside in the doctors expertise and skill, especially as shown in diagnosis. This meant that the patients view of illness and alternative approaches to health were excluded from serious consideration. Indeed, the patients view was seen as contaminating the diagnostic process, and it was better if the patient occupied only a p assive role. It is for this reason that the medical model of disease has been regarded critically in many sociological accounts. The power of the medical model and the power of the medical profession have been seen to serve the interests of medical dominance rather than patients needs (Freidson 1970/1988, 2001) and to direct attention away from the wider determinants of health. However, before we proceed, two caveats need to be entered. Whilst medicine in the last 20 years has continued to focus on processes in the individual body, such as the chemistry of the brain or the role of genes in relation to specific diseases, the current context is clearly different from that which existed at the beginning of the twentieth century. Today, in countries such as the UK and the USA, infectious diseases are of far less importance as threats to human health. The biopsychosocial model in medical research: the evolution of the health concept over the last two decades 1. Introduction The traditional biomedical paradigm has its roots in the Cartesian division between mind and body, and considers disease primarily as a result of injury, infection, inheritance and the like. Although this model has been extraordinarily productive for medicine, its reductionistic character prevents it from adequately accounting for all relevant medical aspects of health and illness [1 and 2]. One of the most criticised consequences of adopting the biomedical model is a partial definition of the concept of health. If disease consists only of somatic pathology-or, more strictly and according to the influential work of Virchow [3], cellular pathology-health must be the state in which somatic signs and symptoms are not present. According to this view, the World Health Organization defined health simply as the absence of disease [4]. In his classic papers, Engel [1 and 5] explicitly warned of a crisis in the biomedical paradigm and conceptualised a new model which regards social and psychological aspects as giving a better understanding of the illness process [6]. In recent years, the so-called biopsychosocial model has found broad acceptance in some academic and institutional domains, such as health education, health psychology, public health or preventive medicine, and even in public opinion. It is now generally accepted that illness and health are the result of an interaction between biological, psychological and social factors [7, 8 and 9]. Many authors now include mental and social aspects in their definitions of health [10, 11, 12 and 13]. It might be expected that, in the two decades since Engels call for a biopsychosocial framework, the concept of health implying social and psychological components would also have extended to practical contexts. The purpose of the present study is to find out whether and to what extent the biopsychosocial concept of health has spread among medical researchers. 4. Discussion and conclusions In western culture, at least since the advent of Cartesian dualism, medicine has used a mechanistic approach to human nature and has centred its interest around illness and its signs. -The main reason for the failure of psychological and social measures in the reports examined lies in the still deep-rooted dominance of the biomedical model which, despite the criticism of its reductionism, remains useful and still enables advances in medicine. This dominance has surely been reinforced in recent years because of the push of genetic research and therapies. Perhaps, holistic and biological-reductionistic models should not compete but try to coexist, as two different but not necessarily incompatible possibilities for approaching health questions. The result would be, however, a reduction of biomedical terrain. First, clinical and health psychology have demonstrated their capacity to explain and treat many somatic symptoms. Second, some holistic medical models-such as Traditional Chinese Medicine or Hannemans homeopathy-are gaining ground because of patients who do not find satisfactory solutions in biomedical care. Third, biomedical care implies enormous and rapidly-ri sing costs that are beginning to exceed the budget of the health care systems. 4.2. Practice implications The biopsychosocial model has been successfully applied to obtain a better understanding of the disease processes and their causes [18], and also for public health purposes [19 and 20], or to improve physician-patient relations [21 and 22], but medical practitioners are still reluctant to incorporate it into treatment plans [16]. Holistic approaches remain till now restricted to chronic illness management [23], which is the field of medical care where regaining health, in a biomedical sense, is not the main goal. For the medical practitioner, the difficulties attached to the change from a biomedical to a biopsychosocial model of health can be well understood. First, this change necessarily implies taking into account a much wider spectrum of the factors influencing health and the healing process, which in turn demands greater knowledge and time investment. Second, the new paradigm implies a new style of the patient-doctor relationship, a style which enables, among other things, the doctors attention to the patients psychosocial circumstances, in order to better manage his or her situation, and not only his or her illness. Undoubtedly, this kind of interaction requires a greater effort from practitioners, but also from the health care systems, which should provide the necessary context and resources for it, such as communication skills training, adequate settings, or enough personnel. Despite these hindrances, which will probably continue to relegate the biopsychosocial model to a secondary place in medical practice, the broadening of the doctors perspective to encompass psychological and social aspects would be really beneficial for the patient, since as Engel [24] lucidly pointed out, even though both patient and doctor may culturally adhere to the biomedical model, the patients needs and ultimate criteria are always psychosocial. What Is the Biomedical Model? (wise geec) The biomedical model is a theoretical framework of illness that excludes psychological and social factors. Followers of this model instead focus only on biological factors such as bacteria or genetics. For example, when diagnosing an illness, most doctors do not first ask for a psychological or social history of the patient. The biomedical model is considered to be the dominant modern model of disease. According to this model, good health is the freedom from pain, disease or defect. It focuses on physical processes that affect health, such as the biochemistry, physiology and pathology of diseases. It does not take social or psychological factors into account. The biomedical model is often referred to in contrast with the biopsychosocial model. In 1977, George L. Engel published an article in the well-known journal Science that questioned the dominance of the biomedical model. He proposed the need for a new model that was more holistic. Although the biomedical model has remained the dominant model since that time, many fields, including medicine, nursing, sociology and psychology, use the biopsychosocial model at times. In recent years, some professionals have even begun to adopt a biopsychosocial-spiritual model, insisting that spiritual factors must be considered as well. Proponents of the biopsychosocial model look at biological factors when assessing and treating patients, just like users of the dominant model do. They also look at other areas of patients lives, however. Psychological factors include mood, intelligence, memory and perceptions. Sociological factors include friends, family, social class and environment. Those who examine spiritual factors also assess patients based on their beliefs about life and the possibility of a higher power. Scholars in disability studies describe a medical model of disability that is part of the general biomedical model. In this medical model, disability is an entirely physical occurrence. According to the medical model, being disabled is negative and can only be made better if the disability is cured and the person is made normal. Many disability rights advocates describe a social model of disability, which they prefer. This social model opposes the medical model. In the social model, disability is a difference neither good nor bad. Proponents of the social model see disability as a cultural construct. They point out that a persons experience of disability can decrease through environmental or societal changes, without the intervention of a professional and without the disability being cured. Explain the main determinants of health: age, sex and hereditary factors, lifestyle, housing, social class etc.: The determinants of health Introduction Many factors combine together to affect the health of individuals and communities. Whether people are healthy or not, is determined by their circumstances and environment. To a large extent, factors such as where we live, the state of our environment, genetics, our income and education level, and our relationships with friends and family all have considerable impacts on health, whereas the more commonly considered factors such as access and use of health care services often have less of an impact. The determinants of health include: the social and economic environment, the physical environment, and the persons individual characteristics and behaviours. The context of peoples lives determine their health, and so blaming individuals for having poor health or crediting them for good health is inappropriate. Individuals are unlikely to be able to directly control many of the determinants of health. These determinants-or things that make people healthy or not-include the above factors, and many others: Income and social status higher income and social status are linked to better health. The greater the gap between the richest and poorest people, the greater the differences in health. Education low education levels are linked with poor health, more stress and lower self-confidence. Physical environment safe water and clean air, healthy workplaces, safe houses, communities and roads all contribute to good health. Employment and working conditions people in employment are healthier, particularly those who have more control over their working conditions Social support networks greater support from families, friends and communities is linked to better health. Culture customs and traditions, and the beliefs of the family and community all affect health. Genetics inheritance plays a part in determining lifespan, healthiness and the likelihood of developing certain illnesses. Personal behaviour and coping skills balanced eating, keeping active, smoking, drinking, and how we deal with lifes stresses and challenges all affect health. Health services access and use of services that prevent and treat disease influences health Gender Men and women suffer from different types of diseases at different ages. Success of NHS was also its Achilles heel demand increased The scale and nature of the problem: Incidents involving incorrect medication dosage Incidents involving the use of technical procedures A number of women became pregnant following failure of earlier sterilisations which had been carried out by laparoscope (keyhole surgery). The surgeon had attached the sterilisation clips to the wrong part of the Fallopian tube. Incidents involving failures in communication A man admitted to hospital for an arthroscopy (an exploratory operation) on his knees had a previous history of thrombosis (blood clots). This was noted by a nurse on his admission form, but was not entered on the operation form which had a section for risk factors and known allergies. The operation was carried out and the patient was discharged from hospital the same day. Given his history of thrombosis the patient should have been given anticoagulant drugs following his operation, but because his history had not been properly recorded none were given. Two days later he was admitted to the intensive care unit of another hospital with a blood clot in his lungs The impact of adverse events on individuals 2.15 Adverse events involve a huge personal cost to the people involved, both patients and staff. Many patients suffer increased pain, disability and psychological trauma. On occasions, when the incident is insensitively handled, patients and their families may be further traumatised when their experience is ignored, or where explanations or apologies are not forthcoming. The psychological impact of the event may be further compounded by a protracted, adversarial legal process. Staff may experience shame, guilt and depression after a serious adverse event, which may again be exacerbated by follow-up action. [20,21] 2.16 The effect of adverse events on patients, their families and staff is not sufficiently appreciated and more attention should be given to ways of minimising the impact of adverse events on all those involved. These issues, while of great importance, cannot be fully addressed within this report and may require separate attention, though we made some limited comment in the context of our discussion on litigation in chapter 4. Conclusion Information on the frequency and nature of adverse events in the NHS is patchy and can do no more than give an impression of the problem.   Information from primary care is particularly lacking; The financial costs of adverse events to the NHS are difficult to estimate but undoubtedly major probably in excess of  £2 billion a year; There is evidence of a range of different kinds of failure, and of the recurrence of identical incidents or incidents with similar root causes; Case studies highlight the consequences of weaknesses in the ability of the NHS as a system to learn from serious adverse events; There is a need for further work focusing specifically on how the impact of adverse events on patients, their families and staff can be minimised. From the cradle to the grave, increasing aging population etc: Britains population is ageing fast, with statisticians predicting a huge increase in the number of 100 year olds by the next century. With people living longer and longer because of medical and other advances, health experts believe the number of people suffering from debilitating conditions such as cancer and heart disease will grow and could mean a rising demand for nursing care. Health experts are worried that as people get older, they could become prone to an increasing number of debilitating conditions if they do not keep active. The WHO has launched a campaign to promote good health in old age. Doctors in the UK say people have an over-gloomy picture of old age and that there is no reason why they should have a lower quality of life than other people if they keep healthy. People do have anxiety that there will be a period of disability at the end of their lives. But there is no evidence that that is the case if they are encouraged to live a healthy life and this generation of elderly people are in better nick than the previous generation. Beating the ageing process Organisations which campaign for the elderly are in favour of policies which support old people to be as independent as possible and allow them more choice and power over their future. They say cuts in local authority and health budgets mean services like home helps have been whittled (cut) away. Without a boost in those services which support independence, there is likely to be increasing pressure on those that cater for dependence: our hospitals, nursing and residential homes. The organisation wants a national strategy which sets a framework that encourages independence and inclusion. It says that such a strategy would be much cheaper than putting people into care homes. They want to see a wider debate on issues such as who funds long-term care, rationing of care particularly in the light of increasing technological change, and health promotion. They argue that the present division between social and health services over long-term care is artificial and damaging. It means people in places funded by social services have to contribute towards their care costs, whereas those in places funded by the NHS get free care.

Effectiveness Between Visual Learning And Auditory Learning

Effectiveness Between Visual Learning And Auditory Learning This experiment was performed to compare the effectiveness between visual learning and auditory learning on short-term memory. Forty subjects were required to read a passage while another forty subjects were asked to listen to a recording of the same passage. After a three-minute filler task, the subjects were required to answer a set of ten questions relating to the passage. Most subjects had higher score for visual learning rather than auditory learning. A statistical z-test was used to compare the mean of these two sets of result. Calculation showed that at 5% significance level, visual learning was more effective in building short-term memory than auditory learning, concurring to the experimental hypothesis. There was sufficient evidence from statistical testing to show that the mean score in memory quiz for visual learning was greater than auditory learning. NULL HYPOTHESIS There is no significant difference between the score for visual and auditory memory test. EXPERIMENTAL HYPOTHESIS The score in visual memory test is higher compared to auditory memory test. RESEARCH AND RATIONALE The purpose of this experiment was to compare the effectiveness of both visual learning and auditory learning on short-term memory. Memory is defined as the power or process of reproducing or recalling what has been learned and retained especially through associative mechanisms, which include encoding, storing and retrieving. According to Atkinson-Shiffrin Model (1968), human memory can be divided into three major groups, namely sensory memory (SM), short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM). [4] Figure 1: Atkinson-Shiffrin Model (http://www.audiologyonline.com/articles/article_detail.asp?article_id=1403) (251 words) Sensory memory is a buffer that captures, for just a moment, all that you can see, hear and feel. In general, sensory memory is the ability of sense organs such as eyes, ears and skin to retain sensory information for a very brief period (less than a second). It can be divided into iconic memory (vision) and echoic memory (hearing). When we focus attention on sensory memory, this moves sensory information into conscious memory which is known as short-term memory. Short-term memory can hold a limited amount of information for about 30 seconds, but it stays longer under continual rehearsal and will eventually converted into long-term memory. [1,5] Short-term memory is the temporary memory store used to store and manage information needed to perform complex cognitive tasks. It is formed by brief changes in the synaptic transmissions. It involves the firing of neurons which depletes the Readily Releasable Pool (RRP) of neurotransmitter vesicles at presynaptic terminals. After the firing slows down, endocytosis causes the short-term memory to decay. The memory will disappear if it is not re-activated. Thus, periodically repeated information is needed so that information can retain for a longer period. [8] Figure 2: Baddeleys model of working memory (http://www.thefullwiki.org/Baddeley%27s_model_of_working_memory) (448 words) Alan Baddeley proposed a more complex working memory model for short-term store. It is an active three-part memory system that temporarily holds information which consists of an executive control central that coordinates the phonological loop (storage for language sound), visuo-spatial sketchpad (storage for visual and spatial information), and the episodic buffer. Working memory is very significant in helping us to solve problems that require reasoning and multitasking. [2,6] Long-term memory is the storehouse of the brain where its capacity is enormous and virtually permanent. It can be divided into declarative memory (consciously available) and procedural memory (unconsciously available). However, long-term memory distorts the facts and tends to become less reliable as we age. [1,7] Figure 3: The activation of specific sensory cortices during memory retrieval (http://www.pnas.org/content/97/20/11125.full) A study by Randy L. Buckner aimed to study whether the retrieval of sensory-specific information will reactivate the regions of sensory cortex. The outcome revealed from functional MRI showed that secondary areas in auditory and visual cortex were reactivated when sound and image memories were recalled respectively. Since different regions were activated during information retrieval, visual memory should be different from auditory memory. Figure 3 shows the activation maps during perception of visual objects (ac) and sound (e) as well as the recall of visual memory (bd) and auditory memory (f). [9] (660 words) A study by Michael A. Cohen examined the inferiority of auditory to visual memory using recognition measure. The experiment was done by testing the ability of subjects to recall the stimuli, for instance sound clips, verbal description, picture or combination of both. Comparison of data showed that recall for picture is better compare to other stimuli. [10] Besides, Cohen also compared auditory and visual memory in musicians who have far better auditory recognition memory. However, the results showed that the memory for auditory stimuli was still inferior to visual object. Thus, it is clear from these results that auditory recognition memory performance cannot be on par with the levels of visual recognition memory. [11] The outcomes of this experiment could be significant in education, working place and business strategy. Educators should focus on visual teaching by preparing more visual stimulus such as diagrams, slideshows or mind maps to make the lessons more effective and enhance the student memory. Managers should provide a copy of information rather than giving instruction verbally to prevent employee from making error. Moreover, companies should provide visual effect when advertising through television or poster rather than via radio so that consumers can remember better of that company. (859 words) VARIABLES Manipulated variable : Type of stimulus (visual or auditory) Responding Variable : Score in memory test (degree of memory) Constant Variables : Age and education level of the subjects, period of the test PLANNING As stated above, assumption was made that both visual and auditory learning have the same effect on short-term memory, thus all these trials were conducted using only one type of stimulus which is visual stimulus. Trial 1: Length of the passage This trial was conducted to find out the most appropriate length of passage for the memory tests. Four subjects were given a passage of 234 words while another four were given a passage of 843 words to read. After that, the subjects were required to answer a set of ten questions related to the passage. Length of the passage Memory test score 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 234 words 10 10 10 9 843 words 5 4 4 5 Table 1: Results of first trial experiment From Table 1, subjects performance is almost perfect in the memory test when dealing with the short passage of 234 words. On the other hand, subjects who deal with the long passage of 843 words answered less than half of the question correctly. Therefore, I decided to use a moderately long passage of around 500 words to obtain an ideal result in the real experiment. (1086 words) Trial 2: The necessity of filler task This trial was done to find out whether a filler task is necessary and its duration before proceeding to the memory quiz. First two subjects ware not required to do any filler task (Sudoku puzzle) while the remaining subjects were asked to do the filler task within 2, 3 and 4 minutes respectively. Duration of Filler Task (minutes) Score 1st 2nd Without 8 8 2 7 8 3 6 7 4 5 5 Table 2: Results of second trial experiment From Table 2, subjects who answered the question without distraction task was slightly higher than those who had done the Sudoku puzzle. Besides, it was noted that the last few questions where the answers were found on the last part of the passage were answered correctly for those without filler task. Thus, a distraction task is necessary to distract the subjects from rehearsing the information they had just received and answering the question directly without having the information converted into short-term memory. Besides, the duration of filler task was fixed at 3 minutes as it seemed long enough to prevent subjects from rehearsing the newly received information but not too long to cause memory decay. (1293 words) Trial 3: Suitable Timeframe This trial was conducted to investigate the perfect timeframe for the subjects to complete the memory test. Six subjects took part in this trial, with two in a group. They were given a passage that later used in the actual experiment to read and answer ten questions within time limits. The three groups required to answer within 1, 2 and 3 minutes respectively. Time limit (min) Score 1st 2nd 1 3 4 2 5 6 3 8 7 Table 3: Results of third trial experiment From Table 3, the longer the time limit, the higher the score each subjects obtained. The subjects were debriefed after the memory test regarding the time limit given. Those who underwent time limit of 1 and 2 minutes claimed that the time given was too short for them to complete all the questions. Subjects who did the test within 3 minutes claimed that they only manage to complete the questions on time. They felt stressed during the experiment and this might limit the subjects performance. Hence, I decided to leave out the time limit so that subjects can answer the question in a stress-free condition. The visual stimulus administered was a one-page printed passage that I get from the reference book Cambridge Practice Test for IELTS 2, Test Four, Section 2. On the other hand, the auditory stimulus used was a three-minute recording of the same passage taken from the CD-ROM. A passage was used instead of simple words, number or image recall to mimic real-life situation in work place or in classroom where people were bound to lots of information which they have to remember. This passage consisting of 551 words was chosen as it was designed by an experienced author who written for IELTS reference book and IELTS is a recognised international English testing system. The passage was clear, concise and contained a lot of information and there were questions provided. Besides, the person who produces the tape script has high proficiency in English, thus there will be no complain about the clarity of the tape script. (1645 words) METHOD Random sample of 80 subjects were selected from the Advanced Level students in Intec Education College. The subjects were divided into two groups that carried out visual and auditory test respectively. For visual test, each subject was given three sheets of paper beforehand. (A passage, a memory test of ten questions and a Sudoku puzzle) For auditory test, each subject was given two sheets of paper beforehand. (A memory test of ten questions and a Sudoku puzzle) The subjects were instructed to read the passage and listen carefully to the recording played by a radio inside the classroom once only and try to memorize as much information as they can. Immediately after the presentation of stimuli, the subjects were asked to complete the Sudoku puzzle as a filler task in 3 minutes to reduce rehearsal. After that, the subjects were required to do the memory test without a time limit and hand in the answer sheet after they had done. The scores of each subject from each group were calculated and recorded in a table. A box-plot and a bar chart were drawn to represent the data. Z-test was used to compare the mean of visual and auditory memory test at 5% significant level. RISK ASSESSMENT All subjects personal details were kept anonymous for confidentiality purpose. They were instructed not to disclose any information regarding the quiz to anyone who had not taken the test. Besides, subjects were told that this experiment was not done on testing the individuals intelligence or memory power to avoid any unnecessary stress which could affect the subjects performance. The volume of the recording played over the radio was set at an acceptable volume so that everyone could hear clearly and did not cause any impairment on hearing. Otherwise, this was a low-risk procedure. (1942 words) RESULTS Number of people, f Memory test scores, X Visual, X1 0 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 4 2 5 4 6 8 7 11 8 10 9 5 10 0 Mean xÃÅ'„1 = 6.95 Table 4: Results for memory test of visual and auditory learning (2005 words) Graph 1: Box plot for memory quiz score of visual and auditory learning (2018 words) STATISTICAL ANALYSIS X1: Visual memory test Memory quiz scores, x Visual, f fx x2 fx2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 4 0 3 0 0 9 0 4 2 8 16 32 5 4 20 25 100 6 8 48 36 288 7 11 77 49 539 8 10 80 64 640 9 5 45 81 405 10 0 0 100 0 n = 40 à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ fx = 278 à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ fx2 = 2004 Table 5: Statistics for visual memory test Mean, xÃÅ'„1 = = = 6.95 Variance, à Ã†â€™Ã‚ ² = xÃÅ'„12 = 6.952 = 1.7975 Standard Deviation, à Ã†â€™1 = = = 1.34070877 (2138 words) X2: Auditory memory test Memory quiz scores, x Auditory, f fx x2 fx2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 6 4 12 3 5 15 9 45 4 8 32 16 128 5 10 50 25 250 6 7 42 36 252 7 4 28 49 196 8 2 16 64 128 9 0 0 81 0 10 0 0 100 0 n = 40 à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ fx = 190 à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ fx2 = 1012 Table 6: Statistics for auditory memory test Mean, xÃÅ'„2 = = = 4.75 Variance, à Ã†â€™Ã‚ ² = xÃÅ'„12 = 4.752 = 2.7375 Standard Deviation, à Ã†â€™2 = = = 1.65453921 (2258 words) Z-test is a statistical test extended from t-test. It follows a normal distribution where the data have the same mean, median and mode. It is used to handle large samples when n à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¥ 30 and standard deviation is given. In this experiment, there was one variable (type of stimulus), two samples (visual and auditory memory tests) and 40 observations for each sample. The data was unmatched as each subject sat for the test once only. The difference between variances in the two samples is small (0.94). Thus, a z-test was applied. [3] Number of samples, n Mean, xÃÅ'„ Standard Deviation, à Ã†â€™ Visual, xÃÅ'„1 40 6.95 1.34070877 Auditory, xÃÅ'„2 40 4.75 1.65453921 Table 7: Basic statistics for both memory test scores Hypothesis Test for Two Population Means H0: ÃŽÂ ¼1 = ÃŽÂ ¼2 (The mean scores in both visual and auditory memory test are equal) H1: ÃŽÂ ¼1 > ÃŽÂ ¼2 (The mean score in visual memory test is greater than that in auditory memory test) Given the null hypothesis and à Ã†â€™1 = 1.34070877, n1 = 40, à Ã†â€™2 = 1.65453921, n2 = 40 xÃÅ'„1 xÃÅ'„2 ~ N (0, + ) By Central Limit Theorem, the test statistics is: Z = Since under H0, ÃŽÂ ¼1 = ÃŽÂ ¼2 then in this case ÃŽÂ ¼ visual = ÃŽÂ ¼ auditory and thus Z = = 6.53615718 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‹â€  6.5362 (2483 words) According to the Table for Critical values for two-tailed z test, the critical value for a two-tailed test when p = 0.01 will be the critical values for p=0.05 for a one-tailed test. Thus, the critical value for Z is z = 1.647. From the result above, the value of z at 5% probability level is 6.5362 which are higher than the critical value of 1.6449. Therefore, the null hypothesis, H0 is rejected. There is sufficient evidence that the mean score in memory quiz for visual memory is greater than that for auditory memory. This agrees with the experimental hypothesis and matches with the two studies stated earlier which were done by Michael A. Cohen proving that auditory memory is inferior to visual memory, yielding better short-term memory recall. Since Z calculated is a lot higher than Z critical, there is much less than 5% chance that the results occurred by chance, and more than 95% chance that the mean for visual memory test is higher even if the experiment is repeated on the similar population. (2659 words) Graph 2: Bar chart for memory quiz score of visual and auditory learning (2672 words) DATA ANALYSIS Graph 2 shows that the score range of visual test is within 4 to 9 whereas the score range for auditory test is within 1 to 8. The modes for visual and auditory memory test are 5 and 7 respectively. It is a huge contrast as most of the subjects scored less than half of the total marks for auditory test while most of the subjects scored more than half of the total marks for visual test. Thus, it is obvious that subjects tend to forget the information more quickly when it is presented by oral compared to visual. There were anomalies in this investigation, especially in the auditory test group. One subject gets only one answer correct in the memory test and it had been reconfirmed that there was no marking error. This might be due to the particular subject was tired and lack of sleep the night before. This explanation was supported by the research of Polzella and Donald J. that stated sleep deprivation increases the occurrence of lapses, periods of lowered reactive capacity, which prevent the encoding of items in short-term memory. [12] Likewise, two of the subjects get eight questions right in the memory test. This might be due to both subjects are Grade 8 pianist who have a better listening ability and are good auditory learner that can remember the auditory information outstandingly. This was stated in Michael A. Cohens research that musicians have far better auditory recognition memory. [11] However, I found out that some subjects with high scores in the memory test did not even complete half of the Sudoku puzzle. This may be due to the fact that they kept recalling what they had read during the distraction test but not concentrating on the Sudoku puzzle. During the real test, they were just rehearsing the information they read a few minutes earlier. (2980 words) The superiority of visual memory can be explained according to the way the information is perceived and stored as memory. Auditory verbal information enters automatically into the phonological store whereas visually presented words are transformed into phonological code by silent articulation first and subsequently into the phonological store. Thus, the visual information stored twice as visual code rather than auditory code. [6] From the study by Buckner, we know that visual and auditory memory retrieval involves the activation of different brain region. The sensory-specific regions are activated most robustly during recall of visual memory whereas auditory memory represents a distinct subset of those activated during perception. The reason behind may be the capacity for visual memory is larger than auditory memory, thus complex visual memory can be converted into memory more rapidly and easily. [9] The properties of auditory and visual information are different. In terms of physics or psychophysics, auditory information is said to be less memorable than their visual counterparts. It could be that the remarkable ability to rapidly encode and remember meaningful stimuli is a feature of visual processing. [12] Eberman and McKelvie proposed that a person was more prone to form vivid images, particularly if the original source was visual than if it was auditory. [13] Visual stimuli are seen and heard through rehearsal maintenance in the brain while auditory stimuli are only heard, making it more difficult to perform. When the brain is processing a visual image, the cognitive functioning requires the discovery of a mental image, but when the cognitive functioning is the process of an auditory stimulus, the brain needs to hear the word and then create a mental image in order for a correct recall to take place. Thus, auditory learning seems slower compare to visual learning. [14] (3271 words) EVALUATION There might be variation in memory capacity between individuals, thus a large sample of eighty subjects was used in the experiment to ensure sufficient replicates were produced to support the conclusion. Besides, random choosing and grouping of subjects and consistency of gender will help improve the reliability of the results because there will be no bias in terms of subjects selected to participate in which test. The age of the subjects was kept constant (20) because capability to memorise varies with age. For example, older people were more prone to develop dementia and were less effective in memorising information, thus giving an unreliable result. Moreover, subjects must have the same level of education as people who weak in English and understanding might not be able to answer the questions properly, be it in visual or auditory form. Subjects must not have any problem related to their eyes (reading) and ears (listening) to ensure the experiment done smoothly. In addition, the period of the test conducted must be fixed as the effectiveness of learning varies throughout the day. Subjects might feel hungry at the noon and tired around the evening after whole day of academic session. Thus, the entire test was conducted in the morning as it is the golden period for the subjects to learn and memorising information effectively. Participant who were physically sick or mentally tired were excluded from this investigation as their condition might deteriorate their memory performance. In conclusion, the results can be considered to be valid and reliable as the whole experiment was conducted with minimal errors and a large sample size. (3537 words) LIMITATIONS AND MODIFICATIONS In this experiment, since the same subject cannot sit for both test due to same passage used, it has been assumed that the individual variations amongst the subjects do not affect the results of the study. However, different people might have different memorising power, thus one modification that could be made is by having the same subjects doing both visual and auditory memory test but on different passage which are closely similar in terms of length, information and standard of English. Although the subjects involved in this experiment are selected randomly, it is only representing the population in International Education College but not whole general college-aged students. Therefore, the experiment can be modified by having a larger sample size from other colleges to obtain a more conclusive, representative and reliable results. However, it was difficult for a person to memorise all the information in the long passage. They may miss out some points which will affect the outcomes of the investigation. Thus, the passage can be replaced by 30 phrases so that they know exactly what to remember. FURTHER INVESTIGATION Further research can be done by investigating the efficiency of visual and auditory learning method in varying age cohorts. Besides, other types of memory measures such as recognition of image and words can be carried out for further study. Lastly, a comparison between genders in terms of both types of memory can be conducted as the memorising power between males and females could be different. (3780 words) SOURCE EVALUATION Source 1 is an e-book that written by psychology experts while source 2 and 3 are published books so the information in it should be facts. They are all credible sources as their content would have been reviewed by other experts prior to publication. Source 4 is a website from Indiana University while source 5 is a website supported by Bryn Mawr College and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, thus the information are reliable. Source 6 and 7 is from Wikipedia where most of the data and information obtained are cited and linked to many literatures and academic research. Sources 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 are scientific journals that written by experts from renowned universities. Their research papers consist of experiments similar to my scientific investigation topic. The results obtained are widely recognised and have been peer-reviewed by other scientists before being published, thus they are trustable. CONCLUSION It is clear that visual learning is more effective than auditory learning on short-term memory. It is proven by the mean score in visual test which is 6.95, which is greater than the auditory test which is 4.75. The z-value, 6.5362 is higher than the critical value at 5% significance level. Experimental hypothesis is accepted. (4984 words) APPENDIX TEXT PASSAGE Great. Well, hi, everyone! My names Jody and Im one of the four recreation officers here at Rainforest Lodge. My job is to make sure that you all have a great stay here with us and go away feeling relaxed and refreshed. As you can see, were literally in the middle of nowhere at the Lodge. There are no newspapers or TVs and theres only one phone and thats in the office. The Lodge is a complete get away from it all experience: a place to unwind and appreciate the world without a lot of interruptions and distractions. From your cabin balcony youll find that you cant see anyone else and the only noise you should hear is the birds. When the luggage comes, one of the guys will take it across to your cabin for you and make sure you know the way back here to the main centre for dinner in the restaurant. Dinner will be served in about an hour or so. All the times of each days activities are printed on the blue sheet you should have got in the information guides that were handed out on the coach. Each Explorer trip has a different focus, so it doesnt matter how many you do or on what day, because theres always something new to discover in the rainforest. Tomorrow I think weve still got places on the Orchid and Fungi Tour. This is on foot and takes you to different parts of the rainforest. Or, if youd prefer, theres the Four- Wheel-Drive tour to the waterfalls, or the fishing trip where I promise you well catch some lunch, and last but not least, the famous Crocodile Cruise that leaves at 11 am each day. (Just in time for the crocodiles lunch!) Plenty to choose from here at Rainforest Lodge or just sit on your balcony relax and unwind and enjoy the views. In the evenings there is the Spotlight Tour, one of my favourites. The Spotlight Tour leaves at sundown and lets you catch a glimpse of some more of the rainforests wildlife as it comes out at dusk to feed. Thats a great trip and if you can, Id really try to make sure you do it during your stay. (4359 words) Youve chosen to visit the rainforest in March, which is just at the end of the wet season, so youll soon notice how well the waterfalls are running and also how damp the ground is. Things can tend to get a bit slippery, too, so if you didnt bring any walking boots Id advise you to hire some from the office. Youll also be much better off in long trousers rather than shorts because they will give your legs more protection and socks are a good idea too. Theres no need to be nervous of the rainforest provided that you treat it with respect and common sense. Most of the animals and wildlife are gentle and harmless. There are some venomous snakes to beware of, but really theyre much more frightened of you than you are of them. The other thing is that certain plants can cause irritation if you touch them with bare skin. Well, thats about all for the time being. The guys are here to take you and your luggage to the cabins . . . (4538 words) QUESTIONS At Rainforest Lodge there arent any telephones or TVs. newspapers or TVs. telephones or newspapers. The guests are told to carry their luggage to the cabin. go straight to the restaurant. wait an hour for dinner. TOUR NAME DETAILS Orchid and Fungi walking tour Four-Wheel-Drive tour to the 3)_____________ Fishing to catch lunch Crocodile Cruise departs at 4)_____________ daily 5)_____________ departs at sundown What THREE items of clothing does the speaker recommend for the rainforest? 6) ______________________________ 7) ______________________________ 8) ______________________________ Which TWO things in the rainforest does the speaker give a warning about? 9) ______________________________ 10) ______________________________ (4636 words) DISTRACTION TASK 8 2 8 7 6 4 3 1 9 5 8 4 9 6 1 8 1 3 5 4 7 2 7 4 7 6 4 3 5 6 CRITICAL VALUES FOR A TWO-TAILED Z TEST Probability value Z 0.10 1.647 0.05 1.960 0.01 2.576 0.02 2.326 0.002 3.10

Definition of Cool :: essays research papers

From wicked good, to psychedelic, to â€Å"word†, there is no reason why older generations never understand what the youth today consider the latest slang. Our ever-growing vocabulary, to express our emotions and feelings, is never consistent or rigid in its capacity. However, one word that I have not only grown accustomed to in my daily life but also of my mother’s generation is the single syllable, â€Å"cool†. When something becomes common, it is hard to tell when it began. The usage of cool as a general positive epithet or interjection has been part and parcel of English slang since World War II, and has even been incorporated into other languages, such as French and German. Originally, in this sense, it is derived from a Black English usage meaning â€Å"excellent, superlative,† first recorded in written English in the early 1930s. Jazz musicians who used the term were responsible for its popularization during the 1940s. As a slang word expressing ge nerally positive sentiment, it has stayed current far longer than most such words. One of the main characteristics of slang is the continual renewal of its vocabulary and storehouse of expressions: in order for slang to stay slangy, it has to have a feeling of novelty. Slang expressions that mean the same as cool, are words such as bully, capital, hot, groovy, hip, crazy, far-out, rad, and tubular. Growing up for over sixteen years, I have the knowledge of using the word cool in its various forms. As a little boy I never would want to embarrass myself amongst the my sister’s friends who were much older and wiser than I. There was never room for any embarrassing mishap in my quest for being considered cool. As a young middle-schooler, I always looked up to the senior boys. Whenever I would run to and fro my next class, I would hear from a senior waltzing to his classes, â€Å"Hey man. Stay cool,† not at first knowing his true motive. Growing up, you might at first not understand the true meaning of the term, but through experience, one learns of the meaning in its entirety so as to use in daily life.